Piccolo Cafe in Gramercy Park

If you saw the story of Manhattan’s Piccolo Café in the video posted yesterday, you would have seen that the coffee shop owners Michele and Alberto came to New York City thinking that they would sell their coffee for a few weeks and then head back to Italy.  They had only their plane tickets and a place to stay for the duration of the Union Square Holiday Market.  Little did they know that they would have sold thirty thousand cups of coffee in three weeks, and that on the last day of the market, a customer would give them a key to a coffee shop space (in Gramercy Park!) with no questions asked.

Walking into Piccolo Café on Third Avenue you would have no idea that these newly arrived Italian friends had no budget to create their coffee shop.  The place is intimate but attractive to the eye with walls covered in coffee colored strips of wood and tables inviting you to stay and share in the warmth.    

Because they had no idea that they would be opening a business in Manhattan, Michele and Alberto had to use everything left over from the market to make a coffee shop that was up to Manhattan expectations.  The walls are lined with pieces of wood left over from crates or with what looks like newspaper but is actually old coffee bags pasted to the wall with flour.  The coffee station is made from a bench they reclaimed in Brooklyn and burlap bean bags.  Small light fixtures made out of brown paper bags dangle above you and sway with the small breeze that enters (these were supposed to be used to sell coffee by the pound but the company that provided the bags went out of business and left them with five hundred bags).

The people behind Piccolo Café are incredible and they invite you to escape the city with their character, authenticity, and Italian essence.  Come try the buffalo mozzarella that New York Magazine raves about, drink a distinctly delicious coffee from a seventy two year old family business or stop by to purchase some truffle olive oil.

Piccolo Café is located at 157 3rd Avenue between 15th & 16^th Street.
(212) 260-1175

Atmosphere: 4 Stars

Coffee: 5 Stars (but know that they use a lot of milk in Cappuccino)

Food: 5 Stars

Service: Sociable   

Price: $$$